Two Sides of the Same Kunai
by Candy1004104
Summary: Naruto's story and Gaara's story, from the beginning all the way to the Chuunin Exams. How did they become the people they did at the start of the Chuunin Exams? What exactly did they go through?
1. Chapter 1:The Beginning

**A/N: Yay, new story! It's not exciting, but it's more like the history of Naruto added to the history of Gaara, just for comparison purposes and the fact that I have nothing else to write about. I will be adding things because I'm too lazy to watch all those episodes to get every single detail (Though I am going to Narutopedia to get info. Tell me if it's not accurate).  
****And it wouldn't be one of my fics if I didn't include a thank you to CuteLikeMomiji, so thanks to her (again) for support, ideas, and helping me come up with the name of this story.  
****Review please!  
****Disclaimer: I never had owned Naruto, I don't own Naruto, and (I assume) I never will own Naruto.**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai  
****Chapter 1**

Konoha was in peril. The Nine Tailed Fox, the Kyuubi, was attacking Konoha, and many brave ninja had died already. The Fourth Hokage was scared that he might have to use _that_ jutsu. But it became evident that he would have to. Konoha was going to be destroyed if he didn't. And Minato Namikaze had to admit, wasn't it a Hokage's job to protect the village, even if it meant giving up their lives?

"Stand back. I'm going to handle this myself." Minato calmly told the ninja surrounding him.

This was followed by protests of "No!", "No, I won't let you!", and "Hokage, just wait a bit longer!", but the ninja army was hushed by Minato. He gave them a sad little smile, and said, "Don't worry. I'm the Hokage, after all."

Minato slowly made his way towards the Demon. If he was going to do what he intended to do, these could be the last minutes of his life. He wanted to treasure them. Although this was hard, surrounded as he was by chaos and destruction. But he thought of his son, Naruto, and happiness swelled inside of him. Except...

Earlier, he had thought of who he would seal the demon inside. It was a hard decision. Nobody would do it willingly, and no parent would voluntarily give up their child to be a Jinchurriki. And it wasn't... right to force someone to be a host. It would be best to seal it inside a child, so that the person would not suddenly have to get used to being a host. A child... Who? What parent would be so devoted to village, they would allow their child to become a Jinchuuriki?

The answer was obvious. Himself. So, to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto would be the best solution, though not perfect. Naruto was most likely to be mistreated because he was a host. But, Minato argued with himself, Naruto would also have huge chakra reserves, even if he only sealed half of the Kyuubi's chakra. Only half of the chakra...

That's what he would do then. He would seal just half of the Kyuubi's chakra inside Naruto, and the other half somewhere else. A scroll, perhaps.

The joy that came from the thought of Naruto was quickly replaced by despair. He used his teleportation jutsu to gather up Naruto in his arms and then used his jutsu again to return to the battleground.

"Sir, may I ask as to what are you doing?" A Jonin had noticed Minato with a baby cradled in his arms.

"Tell the Third that this child had helped save the village, and should be treated like a hero." He said, not answering the Jonin's question.

"Sir-" The Jonin tried again.

"That was an order!" Minato stated angrily. Hey, you can't blame someone for being frustrated when they're sending themselves to their death.

"Yes sir!" The Jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He stepped towards the edge of a cliff to be as close as possible to the Kyuubi. He set Naruto carefully on the ground, and started his sealing jutsu. After he had started, he closed his eyes, and when he came close to the end, he opened his eyes and concentrated on his son, the last sight he would see.

"Sorry." He whispered, and then the Fourth Hokage passed away.

* * *

In the village of Suna, Village Elder Chiyo and The Fourth Kazekage were arguing.

"It is not right, to try to make your son into an 'ultimate weapon'! He should be treated like a human being, especially by his father! And Karura! Your wife will die because of this, and leave your children motherless!" Chiyo protested.

"I am doing it for the sake of my village. So that Gaara can protect us when we are attacked."

Chiyo pointed an accusing finger at him. "And you will use him to conquer other countries if another Ninja War arises!"

The Fourth Kazekage was unashamed. "Of course. That is the nature of war."

"I will not do it."

The Kazekage became angered at these words. "You _will_ do it, as I am the Kazekage and I am ordering you to."

"No matter, I will not-"

He cut her off. "Yes, you will."

He expression was such that she did not continue to argue. When the Fourth Kazekage makes up his mind, you can't do anything to change it.

_**~Later~**_

Chiyo was sealing the Shukaku inside Gaara, the Fourth Kazekage's youngest son (or rather, inside the fetus that would be Gaara, because Gaara wasn't even born yet). She was doing it unwillingly, obviously. But what could she do? The Kazekage would find someone else to do the job, and Chiyo decided to keep whatever control she had over the situation, no matter how small.

And when Gaara was born, sand from the desert outside shattered the nearest window and came in, forming a cradle that Gaara was settled into by more sand in the shape of an arm.

_**~The Next Day~**_

Karura went for a walk with Gaara tucked in her arms, just outside of the village. They looked out over the desert, and watched the sun slowly descend. As the sun got lower and lower, Gaara's mother gradually crumbled into sand. This, of course, terrified Gaara and he cried when she was gone.

Even in the walled village of Suna, Kankuro and Temari could hear their little brother crying and hurried to get him to bed. They said nothing as they picked him up, but they couldn't help crying themselves over the death of their mother.


	2. Chapter 2:Childhood

**A/N: Hi, how's it going? I'm going to try to update really soon with this fic, because I have a long weekend, which means extra time to write!****Review please!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... T.T**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai**

**Chapter 2**

**_3 years later_**

At the age where most children would be starting to walk, hold their parent's hands, talking in full sentences, and cry when their toy was taken from them, Naruto was already walking and running, had no hands to hold, had a huge vocabulary of negative words, had a lack of the ability to remember names, and he cried over the fact that he had _no_ toys to be taken away from him.

Naruto had developed better motor skills than most by trying futilely to get some one's attention. He had tried poking at people, pushing people, tugging on peoples' sleeves, waving his arms around, jumping in front of people... you get the idea. And he learned quickly how to get away before the villagers could flick him on the forehead, or say something bad about him. Which meant that he had to run quickly, to get out of earshot. Most villagers had decided to ignore the Fourth's request to treat Naruto like a hero, and decided to ignore him too. So, the villagers of Konoha acted like Naruto didn't even exist, unless he bugged them first. A child couldn't go around the village without being disciplined.

Naruto, being just a little boy, had no idea why they treated him like this, so he did the things that the other kids did to get attention. He watched them poke their parents' arms and the parents would turn and face them, with an annoyed or expecting expresssion, but they acknowledged them atleast. He watched kids hop up and down on square patterns drawn on the ground while singing a song. Villagers would look at them with mixed reactions. Some would look sad and regretful, some would look happy and joyful, some would just ignore them if they were too busy.

But mostly, he watched the kids at the ninja academy, and when they became genin, there was nothing but pride in the parents, and triumph in the kids. All around positive energy. Unless a child failed, well, then, there was disappointment, but mostly encouragement, and then determination to try again and succeed. But that determination was also rewarded with pride from the adults. More positive stuff.

So he ran to the Hokage's office, not caring if he crashed into someone. If he did, what would have happened is this: the person he ran into would look at him coldly for a few seconds, then pretend he wasn't there and say, "Oh, I tripped. Could someone help me pick up my groceries?". And if Naruto had tried to help the person (which he did once or twice), they would have said, "Ahh! A dog is trying to steal my groceries, help!", and Naruto would search for a dog and then only receive a blunt whack on the head while he wasn't looking.

When he arrived at the door to the Hokage's Office, instead of knocking politely on the door like he'd never been taught to do, he pounded on it loudly until someone opened the door. The Third Hokage himself opened the door, saw who it was, and he smiled slightly. "Heavens, I thought the entire building was going to come down!". As one of the few villagers who respected Naruto, and as the Hokage, he had provided Naruto with clothes, food, and a place to live in, and would continue to do so until Naruto could get money and do it himself. But not only that, he had told the village not to reveal to Naruto that he was a jinchuuriki and also hid the fact that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son, all for Naruto's safety.

"Old Man Hokage, I want to become a ninja!".

Hiruzen Sarutobi's smile widened. _So_, he thought, _you're going to follow the same path as your father. You'll do just fine._ "Are you sure, Naruto? Being a ninja is hard, both physically and mentally."

"I don't know what you just said there at the end, Old Man Hokage, but I really want to be a ninja!" Naruto's confident grin broke out on his face.

The Hokage chuckled and ruffled Naruto's hair, like a father would've done. "Just wait a bit, Naruto. Just a little more time."

* * *

Gaara, in Suna, was also three years old but lacked the motor skills that Naruto had developed, as the Shukaku and his sand protected him from any harm that came from the villagers. Even verbal abuse. Once enveloped inside a sphere of his sand, Gaara couldn't hear anything. The sand's protection was so absolute, it was soundproof. And if Gaara fell, the sand would be there to lift him back up off his feet.

The sand was like a silent partner, always there to help him up but restraining him in some ways. Once, when Gaara had accidentally gotten into one of his fits and hurt someone, that someone kicked him. Or tried to, atleast, because the sand protected Gaara. But Gaara had wondered what it would feel like. Would it feel nice? Would it hurt?

What did "hurt" feel like? What did "nice" feel like? Because Gaara had never felt anything physically unpleasant, when he felt something physically nice, it felt average. Nice things only feel nice in comparison to the bad things. So, basically, Gaara had never actually felt anything nice, not physically, nor emotionally. None of his family seemed to care for him. Temari and Kankuro had developed a childish grudge against Gaara when they found out he was responsible for their mother's death (while they didn't understand that it was actually their father's fault). The Fourth Kazekage watched him carefully, but he watched Gaara like he was an experiment, and Uncle Yashamaru seemed too busy to watch over Gaara.

The villagers also disliked him, mostly because of his fits, and the fact that he was a jinchuuriki. Unlike Naruto, he had always known there was something wrong with him. None of the other kids could control sand, unless they used their hands to scoop it up. And everyone just avoided him. Not only in hate, but in fear too. And they defintely didn't ignore him. After the first 5 fits that Gaara had, the Fourth Kazekage started sending assassins to kill Gaara, which all failed. But everytime someone was near by during the attempted assassinations, they would come over to observe calmly, as if they were witnessing the execution of a serial killer. Gaara could see it in their eyes. They thought that it was the right thing to murder this little killer child.

The only comfort Gaara had was in his ninja training, which had started when he was exactly 2 years old. Though it wasn't that much of a comfort, but it was the one thing no one scolded him about, because he was a unique ninja and no one could tell him that he was training wrong. After all, how did they know how a jinchuuriki should train? So Gaara trained, practised, and exercised his control over the sand for a year. And even the Fourth Kazekage had to admit, Gaara was going to make a fine ninja when he grew up.

Unless he destroyed the village in one of his fits...

All the more reason to continue the assassinations.


	3. Chapter 3:Training

**A/N: I am amazed at how easily I write this fic (well, excluding the research and the reviewing of the episodes). Thanks for the reviews! And the author alerts and favourites (from both this story and others)! And thanks for reading this fic!  
****I'm trying to make Gaara's part longer, but it's hard to do that and make it lead up to his past. I have a deadline to fit things in on his part and they come sooner than the deadlines for Naruto's part. Sorry, I'm rambling, but I had to get that out.****  
****Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, 'cause if I did, Matsuri would defintely be dead by now (sorry Gaara/Matsuri fans).**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai**

**Chapter 3**

_**1 Year after the last chapter**_

For Naruto, the fourth year of his life was pivotal. He almost encountered a few kids his own age! But let's start at the beginning.

This year, Naruto had a dream. The dream to become a ninja, and he pursued it with the same stubborn determination both his mother and father were renowned for. "Old Man Hokage" also had a hand in helping young Naruto, by lending him plastic weighted kunai to practise throwing with and giving him tips on taijutsu. So Naruto threw, sparred (with a dummy, also lent by the Hokage) and improved. In 4 years (in which time he could enroll in the ninja academy), he would be excellent at the physical component of being a ninja. Yes, it was too bad that the boy couldn't read, but perhaps that could be dealt with later.

On one particular day when Naruto had tried practising out of his apartment and in the forest surrounding the village, a certain Hyuuga Heiress spotted him carrying all this ninja equipment into the forest.

Freeze the picture for a second and try to look at this from Hinata's view. You see a dirty little boy about the same age as you lugging heavy things into a forest. That's suspicious enough, but Hinata was always very caring and kind, so she thought maybe she could help this boy.

As she got closer, she recognized the boy. Yeah, it was that lonely boy that her father had told her to stay away from. Poor little Hinata was so scared of her father, that instead she hid behind a tree and watched Naruto continue his business. She watched Naruto practise sparring, the dummy swinging and almost hitting Naruto. She observed one particular practise kunai bounce off three different trees and come back in Naruto's direction, actually bashed Naruto in the head.

"Owwww!" He groaned, but after rubbing the spot where the kunai struck, he continued throwing.

For 4 continuous hours, Hinata witnessed Naruto swing his arms and legs, sweating, but he hardly took a break for more than a minute. Then she realized that people would start looking for her by now. _This boy,_ she thought, _is special. I will remember him next time I see him._, and she went away.

After Naruto had finally decided that he had trained enough, he packed his stuff up and made his way through the village. Perhaps it was just coincidence, or maybe it was fate, but one way or another, Naruto proved to be too exhausted and collapsed right infront of Ichiraku Ramen.

_**~Later~**_

Naruto woke up inside a kitchen. He rose, and smelled something. He was so hungry after all the training, that the already good scent became something closer to insanely delicious to Naruto's nose.

"So you've finally woke up, have you?" A cheerful voice came from his left.

Naruto looked, and saw where the wonderful smell came from. It was ramen!

Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen and one of the few who didn't scorn Naruto, held out a big bowl of ramen. "Have something to eat boy, build up your muscles and get stronger."

Naruto snatched... er, accepted the bowl from Teuchi. "Thanks Old Man!"

Teuchi laughed and waited while Naruto wolfed it down. The smell was not deceiving, and Naruto swore he never had such a heavenly meal.

When Naruto had finished slurping the soup he looked at Teuchi with a strange expression. "I don't have my money with me." He said sheepishly.

Teuchi roared again with laughter. "No problem, kid! Free, on the house!"

"I don't know what 'on the house' means, but thanks again, Old Man!" Naruto spotted his equipment in a corner and gathered it up. He left the Ramen Bar and waved. "I'll come back, with money!"

And come back he did. Teuchi never turned him away when he came, unlike those kids who were dragged away by their parents every time he came near.

Some one else other than the Hokage accepted him.

* * *

By the age of 4, Gaara had shown huge promise in his abilities as a shinobi. For this year, the Fourth Kazekage decided to stop the attempted murders to preserve his son and mold him into the "ultimate weapon" he wanted. But he would have to make Gaara emotionally stable somehow... Hmm.

So, by order of the Kazekage, Uncle Yashamaru was given the duty to look after Gaara and care for him. To protect him and comfort him and... well, you know. Though Yashamaru didn't really like Gaara due to the death of his sister, Gaara's mother, he tried to follow his brother-in-law's orders and pretended to care about Gaara very convincingly.

Gaara was delighted, because Uncle Yashamaru was the first person to appear to appreciate his existence and respect him. But that didn't stop Gaara from not sleeping at nights in fear that if he slept Shukaku would overtake him and cause the village to hate him more. Uncle Yashamaru couldn't protect him from the demon inside him. Big black lines started to ring around Gaara's eyes. Temari and Kankuro matured slightly and saw from the black rings that Gaara was suffering too. They gradually got over their grudge (it was a bit harder for Kankuro) and tried to treat Gaara nicely. It was the first year when Gaara felt happy. Or atleast, partly happy.

In those long, sleepless nights, Gaara's mind was left free to wander, and he couldn't distract himself because the Kazekage locked him in his room at night. He asked himself again, "What did 'hurt' feel like?". Maybe he could find out himself. So during the time that the sun was not in the sky, Gaara experimented with the different ways to harm oneself. He threw himself at the floor, he (tried to) hit himself, he stepped on a sharp stone, and he even asked Kankuro once to smack his wrists. It became an obssession, trying to find an answer to that question.

Another obssession of Gaara's was to find the meaning of his existence. Like so many people before him, Gaara pondered the meaning of life. He preferred the word existence. That _gz_ sound. Gaara would have giggled, but laughing wasn't something he was used to. But Gaara was still a little child. Who says he can't play with words once in a while?

Unfortunately, the Kazekage caught Gaara smiling and saying "Desert. _Des_ert. Des_sert_ (*insert silent giggle)." As a strict man, he punished Gaara for this (why this is deserving of punishment is unknown) by not allowing him to be in the family picture. _It was doesn't matter_, the Kazekage thought, _because any villager who happened to see the picture would probably cut him out anyways._

As it was, Gaara managed to get a copy of the picture, and guess what he did? He got scissors and cut out his dad.

"Words. Are. Fun." He growled, emphasizing each word with a snip.


	4. Chapter 4:Certain Characteristics Emerge

**A/N: Since I'm determined to update this story frequently, I'm writing this. 3 chapters in 2 days. Wow. Completely amazed.  
****Thanks to CuteLikeMomiji and Roo17 for reviewing for each and every chapter (combined, that makes 6 reviews!) and for adding this story to both their favourite and alert lists. While I'm at it, thanks to tsunade senju for the favourite and Chu545 for the alert. Ok! I'm done with the thank yous now.  
****It looks like Gaara is in the spotlight today. I wanted to fit it all in one chapter. You'll understand later.  
****Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, because when I think about it, if I did, Matsuri wouldn't have even came into the story. Gaara can save someone else, as long as they don't become a Gaara fangirl later.**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai**

**Chapter 4**

_**1 year after the last chapter**_

Like I mentioned in the last chapter, Naruto came back to Ichiraku Ramen. A lot. Infact, because he was just five years old, the Hokage was still paying for his food. Needless to say, the Third Hokage's funds dipped quite a bit. Naruto went to Ichiraku Ramen every single day for about 184 days. And Teuchi and Ayame (his daughter) never got sick of him. They enjoyed him prescence and he became their #1 customer! The villagers had taken to calling Naruto the "Ramen Demon" and were extra careful to hide their ramen when he came near. Naruto was tempted to just follow the smell and steal their ramen anyways. In the future, he _would_ steal the ramen. But let me explain.

Naruto was still observing other kids. But one day he saw something especially... special. He witnessed a prank. 2 boys and a whoopee cushion. Got the attention of the entire restaurant. So Naruto tried it out. If the villagers pretended he didn't exist, well, it should be easy to get close to them. With luck, they could be annoyed enough to actually pay attention! Unfortunately, his whoopee cushion failed to make a sound as it was squashed.

Prank #1: Fail

Prank #1 Escape: Success

He'd try again. Maybe something a bit more creative and... noticeable.

For his second prank, Naruto decided to throw water balloons at ninja coming into the Hokage's office. Okay, it wasn't that much more creative, but it was defintely noticeable. How do you ignore the fact that you're suddenly soaking wet on a bright sunny day?

Prank #2: Success

However, with the arrival of the success came too much attention. Ticked off Jonin and Chuunin hunted Naruto down and dunked him into a hot spring.

Prank #2 Escape: Failure

The shinobi told the Hokage too, so now the villagers weren't allowed to sell anything to Naruto, unless they got special permission from the Hokage. The Hokage would have to personally choose everything Naruto got for now. And maybe he wouldn't let Naruto come to Ichiraku for a while. Just until he got more money saved up.

So with even shop owners neglecting Naruto, he became more isolated than ever (well, atleast he learned the... valued skill of stealing). He cried more in public, when everybody would turn their back to him and ignore him. In one of these particular moments, however, a little pink-haired girl looked back at Naruto and tried to comfort him. Her mother dragged her back, but not before Naruto caught a glimpse of her.

* * *

Despite his new acquaintances with his uncle and siblings, they were too busy to play with him. His uncle had to help the Kazekage arrange stuff, and his siblings were starting to go on D-Rank and C-Rank missions. Gaara was still lonely.

His favourite place to be was the swing. You only needed one person to have fun on it, even if you got sick after a while. On a swing, you could dream that you're in a different world. You could pretend you're flying.

On one day that he was on the swing holding his beloved teddy bear (that Yashamaru, Kankuro, and Temari had given him), the usually abandoned playground was full of children, playing soccer. Apparently they had failed to notice Gaara sitting on the swing. Gaara watched them for a while, and then one of the boys kicked the ball up onto a roof. They watched in horror as their precious soccer ball sailed high into the air, and then with shock and terror as sand went to retrieve it and come back down. Sand!

When the soccer ball landed gently in Gaara's hands and he was going to ask them if he could play, the kids screamed and ran for it.

"Wait! Don't leave me alone!" He shouted desperately, but they didn't stop.

It was the perfect situation for one of his fits.

Gaara lashed out his anger and arms of sand tripped about half of the kids. One of the sporty girls was closest to him, and he whipped sand at her. Suddenly Uncle Yashamaru was there, blocking the attack and bleeding. Immediately Gaara's anger disappeared. He couldn't have hurt one of his treasured ones... hurt one of the people who love him...

"Gaara, please calm down!"

Gaara looked down in shame and sorrow.

_**~Later~**_

Gaara was in his room, even more sad today because he had hurt Uncle Yashamaru, one of the ones who cared for him. One of his precious people. So he tried something that he was too scared to do before. Looking at his mother's photograph, he took a knife and tried to stab his arm with it.

"It's no use, the sand interferes." Gaara said sullenly.

"Gaara."

Gaara turned around. "Yashamaru!"

Uncle Yashamaru appeared in the door way and walked in his room.

"I was ordered by the Kazekage to be your care-taker. I am to keep an eye on your health and protect you. Please don't do such a thing in front of me."

Gaara looked down.

"Then again," Yashamaru said as he rubbed the back of his head, "The sand will protect you."

Gaara look up only too see Yashamaru's bandages, then looked at the floor. "Yashamaru, I'm sorry."

Yashamaru drew his hand back to pat his forehead. "Oh, this? It's just a scratch."

Gaara flicked his eyes up while still keeping his head down. "Do wounds hurt?"

Yashamaru smiled a little and answered, "Just a little. It will heal quickly though."

Gaara looked up at him as if to say, "Really?" Instead he asked, "Yashamaru...?"

"Yes?"

"What does pain feel like? I've never been hurt before, so I was wondering how it felt...

Yashamaru looked grave. "Mmm... How should I explain this... It's painful and unbearable... Like, when a person is shot or cut, he becomes very ill at ease and he can't think normally." Yashamaru smiled sheepishly. "I cant explain it well, but simply put, it's not a very good condition to be in."

Gaara looked again at Yashamaru's bandages. "Yashamaru."

"Yes?"

"Then, do you hate me, Yashamaru?" Gaara couldn't meet Yashamaru's eyes. He looked so genuinely sad!

Yashamaru picked his words carefully. "People hurt eachother and get hurt during their lifetimes, but it is difficult to hate another." He smiled.

Gaara beamed at Yashamaru. "Thanks, Yashamaru! I think I understand what hurting is now!"

"Really?"

Gaara closed his eyes and thought hard. "Maybe I'm injured, too, like everyone else. I always hurt here..." Gaara grabbed at the cloth over where his heart was. "I'm not bleeding, but my chest really hurts here."

Yashamaru took the knife that Gaara was holding, and slit the ring finger on his right hand. "Flesh wounds bleed, and they may seem painful, but as time goes by the pain eventually disappears. And if you use medicine, it heals even faster. But the tricky wounds are the ones in your heart." Yashamaru raised a hand over his heart. "Those are difficult to heal."

Gaara was taken aback with this knowledge. "A wound of the heart?"

"A wound of the heart is different from a flesh wound. Unlike a flesh wound, there are no ointments to heal it, and there are times when they never heal."

Gaara clutched his heart again.

"But there is one thing that can heal a wound of the heart." Yashamaru said to cheer Gaara up. He looked up at Yashamaru with hope.

"It is a troublesome medicine," Yashamaru continued, "and you can only receive it from another person." He looked at Karura's picture.

"What? How can I heal this...?" Gaara asked fervently.

"The thing can cure a wound of the heart is... love."

"Love?"

"Yes."

"How can I get that? What should I do to get rid of this pain?"

"Gaara, you have already received it. Love is the spirit of devoting yourself to someone important and close to you. It is expressed by caring for and protecting that person. Just like my sister. I believe that my sister always loved you, Gaara. The Shukaku of the Sand is a living soul that is usually used for combat purposes. The sand automatically protects you because of love. I believe the will of your mother is inside the sand. My sister probably wanted to protect you, even after her death."

"Yashamaru."

"Yes?"

"Thanks back there... for stopping me."

Yashamaru put his finger in his mouth. "My pleasure. You are a person who is important and close to me after all, Gaara."

Gaara put his mouth over Yashamaru's finger (he looked so cute right then!). Yashamaru's face was unfathomable.

_Can you feel my pain?_, Yashamaru thought.

"It tastes like metal." Gaara stated simply.

**~The Next Day~**

Gaara ran through the village, clutching a paper bag. He thought back to yesterday's conversation with Yashamaru. "Hey, Yashamaru. I have a favour to ask." Gaara had said.

"What is it?" Yashamaru asked patiently.

"I want ointment." Gaara had replied.

Gaara arrived at the house. He knocked twice and waited. The girl that he had hurt earlier answered the door, and paled when she saw Gaara.

"I'm sorry about before. It hurt, right? Here, this is ointment. Use it if you want..." He held out the bag.

"Go home!" She snapped crossly. "Monster!"

Gaara's face fell. He looked horrified. He dropped the paper bag at the door and trudged back home. On the way, a drunken man passed by Gaara and almost hit him in the head with a bottle.

"What the... Be careful." He grunted.

Gaara turned his head around slowly. The man's face snapped alert. "You're...!" He choked out.

Gaara's eyes widened in anger. _Again,_ He thought. _Those eyes again... Why...? Why!?_

The man moved away slightly, frightened even more by the sand now swirling around him.

Screams broke through the air, along with the sound of a beer bottle smashing against the floor.

As Gaara continued on his way, villagers started gathering. "What...? What happened?" They asked one another. "It's Gaara!" They answered back. Gaara just ignored them. Stupid haters.

Gaara passed by the Kazekage, leaning against a pillar supporting one of the buildings. The Kazekage looked down at him with angry disappointment, and, ashamed, Gaara walked away.

That night, Gaara hung out on the roof top. He wanted to be away from his family for a while and just be alone to think and pout.

_It didn't go well... _He brooded, _Why am I the only one who is a monster? What am I?_ And he started crying.

A minute later, kunai flew at Gaara, almost catching him off guard, but the sand formed into a wall behind Gaara at the last second, blocking all the kunai.

He turned around and saw a ninja dressed in the Suna style, with cloth covering his head and his face. _What?_ Gaara thought. _Why? Why do I... Why am I the only one who has to go through all of this!?_

He prepared to fight, and the ninja threw more kunai at him. The sand blocked it in the same fashion, then encased the ninja in a coccoon. The sand lifted it higher into the air, then Gaara closed his outstretched hand into a fist. The sand compress tightly, then expanded. Then the sand released the body and Gaara stepped forward, frightened, but curious to who this assassin was.

"Who are you? Why...?" Then Gaara noticed something. One of the assassin's fingers were bandaged. The ring finger on the right hand.

Gaara gulped and hesistantly pulled off the cloth masking the ninja.

Yashamaru. Gaara's world just fell apart.

"You are strong, as I expected..." Yashamaru said, with blood streaming down his face. "Gaara."

"Yashamaru!" Gaara screamed, as he clutched his heart with one hand and cradled his head with the other. He cried beside Yashamaru, waiting for him to say something.

"Why... Why? Yashamaru, why did you... Why?" Gaara repeated. "Why?" He wiped away his tears. "You... You... I thought that you were..."

"It was an order." Yashamaru stated. "I was ordered to kill you, by your father, the Kazekage."

"Father did...?" The tears flowed again. "Father? Why? Why me?"

"You were born with the Shukaku of the Sand, and then observed like a guinea pig, Gaara." Yashamaru revealed. "But since you could not control the power of the living soul, Shukaku, and were unable to manipulate the sand on your own... Your existence was deemed a danger to the village." He even used Gaara's favourite word, existence, to make the blow have more effect. "Before that happened."

"Then you did this unwillingly because Father ordered you to..." Gaara looked up in hope.

"No, that is not correct." Cruel Yashamaru. Crushing hopes like that. "It is true that I received the order from Kazekage, but I could've refused if I had wished to. Gaara... Deep within my heart, I hated you. You took the beloved life of my sister when you were born. My sister's memento. I tried to love you by thinking of you as her treasured child, but I couldn't. My sister did not wish for your birth. She became this village's sacrifice, and she died cursing this village. After that, I carried a wound that could never heal. My sister gave you your name... 'This child's name is Gaara. A demon that loves himself.' Love only yourself. And fight only for yourself. By doing so, you can continue to exist. Your name carries those wishes. But my sister did not give the name because she cared for you or loved you. She gave you that name so you could continue to exist because she hated and cursed this village as she died, and she wanted her deep hatred to exist and remain to let others know of it. You were not loved."

Yashamaru opened his vest to reveal a bunch of explosive tags. "This is it. Please die."

And a huge explosion rocked the village.


	5. Chapter 5:Starting to Become a Ninja

**A/N: Yay! Internet cookies! Thanks Roo17! The last chapter was tragic, wasn't it? Well, it's time to continue.  
****More favourites! Thanks to Gir101 and TheQueenofAnime for favouriting, and Unknown Variable for adding to his alert list!  
Disclaimer: Do I really have to say this anymore? I'm running out of ways to say this without being repetitive. Whatever, I don't own Naruto.**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai  
Chapter 5  
_1 year after the last chapter..._**

Naruto was six years old now. He could finally go to the ninja academy! Though the Third Hokage was a bit reluctant to let Naruto go (for fear that he wouldn't be great at ninjutsu), he had promised and he couldn't just say "Oh, sorry, changed my mind. You can't go." He was the Hokage. He had to fill his promises, as a model for the village. So Naruto could go to the Ninja academy and learn... stuff. On the first day, the instructers (Iruka in particular) were surprised at how great Naruto was at taijutsu, but ninjutsu? Err... that wasn't really the best for Naruto. Naruto had the worst chakra control they had ever seen. And he couldn't improve on his own because he couldn't read!

The Chuunin instructers didn't like Naruto at all, and he was hard to teach. They liked teaching that Sasuke kid much more. He was a genius, like Orochimaru, Minato, and Kakashi had been. They could see great things in the future of that kid. He might even become Hokage!

Naruto had already become jealous of Sasuke. He had an entire clan to care for him, and a loving older brother! Of course he would do better! If they just gave him a chance, Naruto could turn out a better ninja than Sasuke. Maybe _Naruto_ would be Hokage, not Sasuke!

This is where Naruto's dream Hokage began. He had overheard the Chuunin talking about Sasuke being Hokage when he grew up, and if they were rivals (or atleast, Naruto considered him a rival), then Naruto was determined to become Hokage first, to show everyone that he was better than Sasuke. That he could be a good ninja, and then people would look up to him. The villagers always looked up to the Hokages. The Hokages were awesome, the best of the village, and everyone respected them! Being Hokage would be the ultimate way to gain attention! Not just any kind of attention, positive attention!

That was still a long way off though. Naruto would have to make do with pranks for now. On this particular day, Naruto had decided to pull his prank on the first ninja who walked by. Then he would test his skills by getting away before the ninja could catch him. So Naruto sat on the rooftop, waiting for an ANBU or Jonin to pass by. There! That person looked like an ANBU! Naruto took his fire-cracker set, lit it, and threw it at the ANBU's feet.

Prank #194: Success

As Naruto ran across the rooftops (a needed skill for any ninja), a huge black crow with beady red eyes swooped in and encaged Naruto.

Prank #194 Escape: Failure

The oversized crow (or was it a raven?) transformed into a human being. Instead of screaming like any normal kid, Naruto decided to cuss. He'd been caught. The ANBU was a man with black hair swept into a pony tail, and two long lines shot across his face, making him look tired (well, now he looked angry, but in his normal mood, he would've looked tired). He wore a crow/raven mask, that was now being worn like a hat so we could see his face.

"Oh. It's you." Itachi calmed down. He recognized this boy, and he pitied him. "Hello, little Naruto."

Naruto backed away. "Hey, you're Sasuke's bro!"

"You're the first to say that. Usually they say to Sasuke, 'you're Itachi's little brother'".

Naruto's eyes lit up. "The first? Really? Does that make me special?"

Itachi chuckled, not darkly, but lightly. Cheerfully. "Sure. Naruto, you're very special for saying that."

Naruto beamed. "Yay!" He waved his arms and basically went insane at those words. He jumped down into the streets and ran around, looking like the happiest boy in the world.

Itachi smiled, but in a sad way. He had been on his way to meet the elders to inform them of his decision about the Uchiha massacre. Even Naruto could be happy in a village like this, and he would do anything to protect it. To protect the village, and their happiness. Seeing Naruto only reinforced his choice. All he needed to do now was plan. Plan to protect Sasuke, to insure Sasuke's future, and to try to make it bright.

That night, Itachi murdered every single person in his family, all of the Uchihas. Except one.

Sasuke.

* * *

Gaara was in great emotional pain. Not only that, but he was on the verge of losing his sanity.

On the night that Yashamaru had asked him to "Please die", Gaara, of course, did not die, whether he wanted to or not. The sand formed a shield in the form of a dome, protecting him from the kamikaze explosion. Gaara cried for a bit, but then he lost control of his anger (some of us would call it spazzing out) and sent sand flying everywhere. He tattoed the kanji "Love" on the left side of his forehead and his eyes... Well, they looked haunted. And the black rings only grew thicker from sleep deprivation.

He had decided to follow his mother's advice, because of his experience. It made sense. Love yourself, and fight for yourself, so you won't be betrayed.

And by now, Gaara had gotten over both of his obsesssions. He had learned about pain, because of Yashamaru. He now (thought he) understood the meaning/purpose of his existence, and what he was. Let's hear it in his own words...

_Love only yourself... and fight only for yourself. That is what Gaara is... Me. I finally understand. I'm alone. I won't believe in anyone, or love anyone. I'm alone. Yes, I am alone.  
I took the life of the woman who gave birth to me when I was born. To become the ultimate ninja, my father used a ninja technique to bind an incarnate of sand to me. I was a monster at birth. I fight only for myself, and love only myself. As long as there are people to kill in this world, I will know I exist._

To sum it up, I'd say that because everybody ignored Gaara, he didn't know if he was real or not. Who knows, he could be an illusion. So if he had the ability to end someone's life, he knew that he was a physical being.

Unfortunately, Temari and Kankuro kind of drifted away from Gaara after Uncle Yashamaru passed away. Gaara was more alone than before, and he had this conclusion that killing others could confirm his existence. He started murdering someone atleast once a week to confirm that he lived, and the Kazekage started sending Gaara on dangerous missions in hopes to get rid of this killing machine of a child. While this plan didn't work, it sated the bloodthirst that Gaara developed and prevented him from murdering the villagers. The Kazekage decided as long as Gaara could kill someone, he could prove useful. _Point the killing machine in the right direction and he'll murder all my enemies. Just make sure it doesn't go the wrong way, or else we'll pay dearly._Kankuro and Temari, who were on the same team as Gaara (team Baki), were horrified at the willingness Gaara had to kill someone. They avoided getting in his way, and as a reward Gaara didn't kill them. Though he would, as soon as they start to interfere with his massacre.

Yes, Gaara didn't even consider them siblings anymore. They were just pesky little bystanders who rarely helped him. Which was a good thing. If they did help him, that usually meant Gaara needed help, and when Gaara needed help, there was a lot of screaming and the familiar posture of cradling his head with one arm. Sometimes he screamed words, or names, like "Yashamaru", "Father", "existence", "alive", "kill", "why", "love", "mother", and "pain". What usually followed these words was death. Specifically, the death of the enemy.

...Maybe, Temari and Kankuro thought, it was best they didn't interfere, even when Gaara needed help. Their jinchuuriki brother didn't really appreciate "help".


	6. Chapter 6:Exams

**A/N: Well... What did you think of the last chapter? The Gaara part was predictable, but did you see that Itachi thing coming? I thought not.  
I think this story is really close to it's ending! T.T  
I think CuteLikiMomiji Guy/Lee references are contagious.  
Gaara's part is so short! I need to make it longer.  
****Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Gaara for that matter.**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai  
Chapter 6**

_**3 Years after the last chapter...**_

Ninja Academy training was over, and this was the graduation year (_Or atleast, graduation year for Naruto's class. He was put in the class with the students who were gifted enough to pass this year... Classes were organized by skill-level, not by age_)! Naruto was 9 now, but he had to admit that his chakra control hadn't improved much. What if he didn't pass? What if he had to repeat this year again? What if he failed, and no one encouraged him?

_You've come this far, you can't back down! _Naruto thought. _You have to believe that you can pass! Believe it! Yeah!_

You've probably guessed that this is how Naruto got his catchphrase _Believe It!._ You're right. Naruto, age 9, and he has a catchphrase. Our little Naruto is growing up! While you're crying tears of joy over that miracle, let me tell you what happened in the last three years:

_After Sasuke's clan had been murdered, he was emotionally unstable. The village elders decided that perhaps Sasuke should drop out of the ninja academy. He still hadn't come back, but he was training at home, alone. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke knew how to read. The Chuunin and even some Jonin pitied Sasuke and so they lent him all the scrolls they had. Sasuke found that while he couldn't do every single ninjutsu, he could do the ones involving Lightning and Fire. So he focused on those (especially fire, because that was Uchiha's specialty). He also found that he was crap at genjutsu, so he dropped that and learned how to do all those cool useful things, like breaking a fall, or mid-air flips. The technique that he focused most on though, was the one he had observed Itachi preform, the one with the kunai and the targets. Sasuke ended up hurting himself more than a couple times on that one._

_Naruto's training also intensified as he trained with real kunai, and shuriken too. He sparred with the other kids in his class, and he repeatedly attempted to master simple techniques, such as the transformation jutsu. When he perfected that jutsu, he infused it into one of his pranks, thus inventing the "Sexy Jutsu". _

_Prank #982: Success_

_Needless to say, he always ended up getting hunted down by ANBU when using that jutsu._

_Prank #982 Escape: Failure_

_Gradually though, Naruto learned how to avoid even the ANBU, and he usually used this jutsu to get some training, as most people never willingly trained with him._

_Prank #1386 Escape: Success_

_However, after the escape of Prank #1386, the instructors at the ninja academy were given the responsibilty of finding and punishing Naruto. Iruka was the one to find him, huddled up into a corner, crying._

_Iruka felt sorry for Naruto, and asked, "Why are you crying, Naruto, after what you just did?"_

_Naruto stopped crying and looked up at Iruka, "Because it's too easy to escape the ANBU."_

_Iruka didn't know whether to laugh at the logic, or look blankly at him. "Why is that something to cry over?"_

_"No one wants to train with me, so I bother the ANBU and when they chase me, I consider that training."_

_"That doesn't explain why you're crying, Naruto." Iruka said impatiently._

_"If I got so good the ANBU can't catch me anymore, I can't train and I can't get better!"_

_That's actually a good reason to cry, for someone like Naruto. "I can help you." Iruka offered without thinking. "I'll lend you some of my scrolls and you'll pick up tons of tips-"_

_"I can't read."_

_Iruka's eyes bugged out in shock. "You're nine, and you can't read? No wonder you're so awful at figuring out how the ninja system works. It's written down in books!" Naruto nodded excitededly in agreement. This could lead to something. "I'll teach you then."_

_Naruto nearly screamed with joy. He could become a better ninja, and he'd earn a teacher/friend while he was at it!_

_That's how their relationship started. Naruto quickly learned, and every time he made a breakthrough, Iruka would take him to Ichiraku Ramen. Every time Naruto pulled a prank, Iruka would shout at him and scold him like a father would._ Maybe,_ Naruto thought, _It might be better if I laid off the pranks. When Iruka's around anyways.

_And whether Naruto knew it or not, all his pranks and training sessions were being observed. Hinata Hyuuga watched Naruto and admired his determination, and how outgoing he was. She saw how hard he tried, and tried to be like him. In the effort and determination section anyways. Maybe she wasn't ready to pull pranks._

Done with your tears of joy? Okay. Back to the present.

"This year, the exam will be on the two ninjutsu techniques that we studied - the Transformation jutsu, and the Clone jutsu - as well as releasing yourself from a genjutsu." Iruka announced. There was much smiling among the gifted students (which was basically everyone in the class), but Naruto was in despair. He had forgotten exactly how to release a genjutsu, and he SUCKED at the clone jutsu. He couldn't make any, let alone one that looked exactly like him. "For the clone jutsu, you must make 5 identical clones." Iruka continued. "If you make 5 clones but they are not identical, that's a fail."

Oh no! Poor Naruto! He was sure he was going to fail! But he had to try anyways, and when his name was called, he walked into the exam room. He preformed the transformation jutsu perfectly, and though he forgot how to expel a genjutsu, he did what his instincts told him.

"Congratulations Naruto. You successfully released yourself from a genjutsu. Now all you need to do is make 5 identical clones."

Naruto's hands were sweating, so he wiped them on his pants and made the hand signs for the clone jutsu. There was a puff of smoke and he made only 1 clone. Well, not really a clone... More like half a clone. His clone had only the upper half of the body, and it was floating in mid-air.

"Sorry Naruto. That's a fail. Try again next year."

* * *

For Gaara, life had not changed in the three years, except for the fact that he drifted even further from his family. Baki gave up trying to control Gaara, and constantly had to change plans during missions so that what Gaara did wouldn't ruin them. Missions grew harder, and a result Gaara did more killing. Team Baki avoided escort missions though, because they would be a problem with Gaara around. He might kill the person they're supposed to protect!

This year, Team Baki tried to apply for the Chuunin Exams. The Chuunin exams would be taking place in the Kumo, the Village hidden in the Clouds. They were turned down, but went to Kumo to show the Chuunin in charge of the exams that Gaara's age didn't matter.

While Team Baki was traveling to Kumo, there was little talk between Temari, Kankuro and Baki. Arousing Gaara's blood thirst was not a good thing when they were the only ones around.

They arrived in Kumo, and headed straight to the Raikage's office. When inside, they sat down and attempted to get organized, when Gaara accidentally fell asleep. Uh oh...

The Shukaku took over, and Gaara quickly transformed into a mini Shukaku. "Oh yeah! Shukaku's back, baby! Who's ready to be slaughtered by the world's most awesome raccoon?" Shukaku boomed.

The rest of team Baki quickly got out of there. Temari threw a shuriken at a window, shattering it, and prepared to jump out when she was pushed by Kankuro. "Hey!"

"I'm getting out of here first! Gaara's going to kill us all!"

"Break your own window!"

"No thanks!" Kankuro shouted over his shoulder as he leaped out the window. Temari turned around to see that Baki had copied her and broke another window to escape.

"Boys." She muttered, and she flew through the air, out the window.

Meanwhile, the Raikage and other Kumo ninja were looking at the Shukaku. They saw sand crush parts of the rock wall, creating more sand. It piled up at Shukaku's feet and over it's body, gradually making it bigger. There was only one thing to do.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" A Chuunin shouted. A wise decision.

_**~Later**_

When Gaara had regained consciousness, he found himself covered in grains of sand, lying in the Raikage's office. Or should I say, the ruins of the Raikage's office. He got up, collected the sand in his gourd, and walked calmly through the village. The rest of his team would find him sooner or later. For now, all he wanted to do was sate the bloodthirst. If he was lucky, maybe he could kill a ninja, who would provide more of a challenge. There was no fun in murdering defenseless people.

As he got to the gate, he passed by the chuunin who had been in the Raikage's office earlier. The chuunin looked at Gaara in terror, and there was only one thought in Gaara's mind. _Those eyes again..._


	7. Chapter 7:Kages

**A/N: Whoa. I used way too many italics in the last chapter... The next chapter (which will be last one) and a possible epilogue will NOT be super fast upload (unfortunately). Because my four day weekend is over and on monday-thursday I usually don't get a chance to touch a computer, so T.T  
Thanks for the reviews (particularly roo17, CuteLikeMomiji, and Gir101, seeing as they are the only ones that actually review), and to the other nameless people who read this. Oh yeah, to you nameless people, I wouldn't mind a review once in a while from you guys...  
In this chapter, I tried to make Gaara's siblings more sympathetic, because in the last few chapters they were pretty rotten, weren't they?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I had to say that, because this chapter will have parts of the very first episode.**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai  
Chapter 7**

**_2 years after the last chapter._**

It was the day before the third (third!) ninja academy exam Naruto had taken, and Naruto was extremely nervous. And what better way to get rid of nerves than planning a prank?

That night, Naruto stole a few buckets of paint, and chose the bright colours. Yellow, Pink, sky blue, bright green. Then he stole a few empty buckets, filled them up with water, and ran around the house holding them until he could run without spilling any. Pranks take hard work, and practise you know!

_**~Next Day~**_

__"Hey, Naruto! How could you do such a thing? You'll pay for this!" Two ninja were chasing Naruto angrily, while Naruto was obviously having the time of his life. They were going so fast, it was hard to see exactly where they were going.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted back, while swinging around a bucket full of yellow paint. "None of you guys could do something this horrible, but I can! I am incredible!"

Prank # 2749: Success

The two ninja reported to the Hokage's office. "Terrible news, Third Hokage!" "Hokage!"

The Third Hokage turned around. "What is it? Is Naruto causing trouble again?"

"Yes! On the Hokage Monument!" "He's covered it with graffiti!"

The Hokage sighed deeply.

Outside, Ninja were still chasing Naruto, bouncing around on trees, and buildings, running in the streets. Naruto jumped down into an alley with a picket fence. He pulled up a large sheet, looking exactly like the picket fence behind him, and covered himself completely. The ninja kept on running, thinking that Naruto had gone ahead.

"Idiots!" Naruto laughed.

A ticked off Iruka appeared behind Naruto. "Hey Naruto!"

Prank #2749 Escape: Failure

Naruto jumped (literally). "What was that, all of sudden, Iruka?"

"What are you doing here, during class time?" Iruka pointed an accusing finger down at Naruto.

_**~After Iruka dragged Naruto back to the Ninja Academy~**_

"Listen Naruto. You have failed the last two graduation exams! This is no time for pranks, moron!"

Naruto turned his face away defiantly. _Oh yes it is._ he said in his head.

Iruka got more annoyed. He turned to face the entire class. "For today's class, we're doing a review test on the Transformation jutsu! Everyone line up, even those who have passed!"

The class groaned. "What!?"

But they lined up anyways. Sakura was first to go.

"Sakura Haruno, here I go. Transform!" She executed it perfectly, transforming into Iruka.

"Good." Iruka commented.

Sakura transformed back, looking like the happiest girl in the world. "Yay!" She exclaimed, while her inner self was screaming, "Hell Yeah!"

"Did you see that, Sasuke?" Sakura turned around to face Sasuke.

"Next, Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka said from behind Sakura. Did I mention that Sasuke came back to graduate from the academy? No? Well, he did.

Sasuke also tranformed into Iruka, and Iruka also said. "Good. Next, Naruto Uzumaki."

Before Naruto went up, Shikamaru complained. "Geez, this sucks." Ino decided to join in also. "This is all your fault."

"Like I care." Naruto grunted, and trudged his way up. "Here I go."

Hinata was watching him from where she was standing in line, and blushed. _Good Luck, Naruto._ She cheered him on silently.

"Transform!" Naruto said, and he executed his Sexy Jutsu. He laughed. "What'd ya think? I call it, Sexy Jutsu."

"You moron!" Iruka screamed. "Don't invent stupid tricks!"

_**~Later~**_

Naruto was scrubbing the paint off the Hokage Monument. "Darn it." He muttered.

Iruka was sitting on top of one the Hokages. "I won't let you go home until you clean all of it."

Naruto looked up. "Like I care... It's not like I have anyone to go home to." He shot back.

Iruka looked down at Naruto and thought. "Naruto."

"Now what?"

"Well, umm, if you clean all this up... I'll treat you to some ramen tonight." Iruka looked up at the sky and back down at Naruto.

Naruto was looking at Iruka with joy and hope. "Okay! I'll work hard!" And Naruto put his back into scrubbing and cleaning.

_**~That night~**_

As promised, Iruka took Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen for... well, ramen.

"Naruto." Iruka said as Naruto was slurping up ramen.

"Huh?"

"Why were you doing that to the Hokage Monument? Don't you know who the Hokage are?"

"Of course!" Naruto answered. He finished his ramen and continued. "Basically, those that receive the Hokage name are the #1 ninjas in the village, right? And among them is the Fourth. A hero who saved the village from the fox demon."

"Then why?"

"One day I'm going to earn the title of Hokage. And then... I'm going to surpass all the previous Hokages!"

* * *

The Fourth Kazekage was acting weird lately. The Kazekage usually ignored Gaara, and adored Temari and Kanukuro. In the past few days, he'd been doing the exact opposite. What happened here? Maybe it was that Orochimaru guy, who proposed an allegiance with the Sound Village to destroy Konoha. Gaara would've gladly killed him. He wasn't sure if raccoons ate snakes, but he was sure that the sand would enjoy that snake man's blood.

While Gaara was thinking about that snake man, Orochimaru, his father actually patted his head. In the state Gaara was in, that was the same as asking to be murdered! Gaara's eyes snapped open and outstretched his arm towards his father. It was knocked back down.

"Ah, ah, ah," His father said, wagging his finger. "Not when I have such brilliant news to share with you!"

Gaara replied by glaring darkly at him. There was also a hint of confusion in that glare, because does this really sound like the guy who sent 273 assassins to kill Gaara?

"We're going to partner up with the Sound Village after all. I just need you to do some things first, according to the plan, and then you can kill as many people you want in that village."

Silence from Gaara.

"If you don't do those things first, the plan will fail, and we'll have to punish you severely. Oh yes, very severely... We'll let you kill, but you won't be allowed to eat or drink anything for 3 days. If you try, the food will fly away from you. Like magic. Yes... Magic." His father sounded really creepy, even scarier than before when Gaara was a child. It was like he was a new person.

"But before that, we'll give you a little taste of what that feels like. For the next two days, you won't be allowed to eat anything. Yes, the food will run away from you, li-"

"Like Magic." Gaara interrupted, glaring at his father. "Sand coffin!" As expected, sand flew up to completely cover the Kazekage. He didn't look at all frightened. That made Gaara hesitate, and then the Kazekage wormed his way out of the coffin... Maybe _snaked_ would be a better word. Snakes sprouted from the Kazekage's fingers, and ate through the sand. The Kazekage landed back on the floor, snakes still coming out of his fingers.

The Kazekage sighed. "They will hate me so much for that. Last time I made them eat sand, at least half of the ones I summoned died.

Gaara calmly used his sand coffin on one of the snakes, and let the sand taste the blood. Hmm. _Shukaku doesn't like the taste of snake blood after all. Maybe it would not be a good thing to kill this Orochimaru. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have any blood at all.  
_

"Ah yes." the Kazekage said. "My identity. Now you know that I'm Orochimaru. It's fine though, I think. I don't think you care. Just as long as you get to kill people."

And Orochimaru was exactly right. _After all,_ Gaara thought, _Even I wanted to protect this village and tell people about this, who would believe me?_ Who would listen if he said that the Kazekage was Orochimaru?

I'll tell you who! Temari and Kankuro of course! Though they were terrified of Gaara in his Shukaku form, the everyday Gaara was just a person whose life was ruined so badly, the only thing left for him was killing. And they knew that something was there in between them and Gaara, or else he would've killed them a long time ago (though they were still careful. No need to tempt fate).

When the Kazekage/Orochimaru left the room, leaving Gaara alone, Kankuro went in, then Temari. Kankuro put a hand on Gaara's shoulder and said, "We know. It'll be okay, buddy."


	8. Chapter 8:Paths Cross

**A/N: Hey, I'm back! This is the last chapter T.T Okay, it's not really the last chapter, because I am definitely writing the epilogue! I love epilogues!  
Yay, reviews! Special thanks to the reviewers (roo17, CuteLikeMomiji, Gir101) but in particular to the new reviewer, Akasaku123! I love reviews! I enjoy reading them (Orochimaru was pretty creepy in the last chapter, wasn't he?)!  
Includes spoilers of the first 19 episodes, but I'm assuming you already know what happen.  
Sorry for making this chapter so short!  
****Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... whatever made you think I did?**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai  
****Chapter 8**

So much had changed in so little time. Naruto had become a genin (Third time's the charm!), a part of Team 7, friends/rivals with the last Uchiha (Sasuke, of course). He also learned a_ Jonin _level justu, and fought one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!

It was a nice sunny day in Konoha, with colourful birds flying in the air, and thin wispy clouds in the sky. Naruto was just waking up, and he stretched. He ate breakfast (a slice of toast with butter on it), and got dressed, still looking half asleep. After locking the door though, he seemed to snap awake. "I'm going to complete more missions today!" He shouted with enthusiasm, "Let's go!" and he ran to bridge where Team 7 was supposed to meet.

Sakura and Sasuke were waiting at the bridge, when they heard footsteps. Naruto was sprinting towards them, and he smiled at Sakura. "Good morning, Sakura!". Then Naruto noticed Sasuke. They narrowed their eyes at each other, then looked away. "Hmmph."

Sakura sulked. _Ugh, they're doing it again..._ She complained to herself, _These two have been acting weird since we all returned from the Land of the Wave. I feel awkward now..._ Sakura's inner self decided to complain too, in her loud, angry way. _Kakashi, hurry up and come, damn it!_

After a long time, Kakashi finally showed up. "Hello everybody. Good morning." Kakashi greeted them cheerfully. "I got lost today, so..."

Sakura and Naruto shouted/scolded him at the same time. "You're late!"

"Hey, Kakashi!" Naruto started excitedly, "We've only been doing easy missions, right? Isn't there a mission where I can play an active role, and something that's more... exciting? Something that makes my 'way of the ninja', you know, my heart, like this?" Naruto displayed his fiery energy.

"Yeah, yeah. I see what you're trying to get at." Kakashi vainly attempted to calm Naruto down.

Naruto turned around to face Sasuke. _I'm not going to lose to this guy! _Naruto daydreamed about saving Sasuke, and basically showing off in front of him.

"Hey Naruto, what are you doing? We have a mission!" Kakashi called.

"Roger!" Naruto replied.

"You're so noisy!" Sakura whined.

Team 7 spent the rest of the day doing their simple missions, pulling out weeds, picking up litter in a stream that led to a waterfall, walking dogs, that kind of thing. Naturally, Naruto had to get competitive with Sasuke and ruin even those meagre tasks.

**_~Later~_**

Konohamaru was escaping from Sakura. If you want to know why, well, let's just say that it had something to do with Sakura being called an "ugly-wide-forehead girl". Anyways, Konohamaru was getting out of there, but he ended up runing into someone and falling on the ground. Two tall figures (a blonde girl and a guy dressed almost completely in black) loomed above him. "That hurt." The male one said.

The rest (Konoharmaru's friends, Naruto, and Sakura) looked at them with shock.

"That hurt, brat." he said again, and he lifted up Konohamaru by the front of his shirt.

"Stop it." The blonde female sighed. "We're going to get scolded later."

... Err... After much yelling, charging, and threats from Naruto, finally, a rock came flying and hit Kankuro (because of course it was Kankuro), and he let go of Konohamaru. Everyone looked up and saw Sasuke in the trees, casually throwing and catching another rock.

"What do you think you're doing in another person's village?"

Sakura freaked out in her fan-girlish way. "Sasuke!"

"Get lost." Sasuke basically commanded them, and he crushed the stone into sand.

All the girls girlishly freaked out again. "He's so cool!"

Konohamaru turned and pointed at Naruto. "Naruto, you're not cool."

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Hey hey, I would have beaten that guy..."

Konohamaru turned away. "Liar!"

"Hey! Come down, kid!" Kankuro yalled up to Sasuke. "I hate kids like you, who think they're so clever." He tugged on the mummy-like thing on his back.

"You're not going to use Karasu...?" Temari said with alarm as Kankuro set the mummy on the ground.

"Kankuro, stop." A voice came from the same tree Sasuke was perched on.

A red-haired figure hung upside-down from one of the branches. "You're a disgrace to our village."

_**~Meanwhile~**_

"So it's that time of year already?" Kakashi said casually.

"You've reported this to the other countries? I've already seen a few in the village." Asuma observed.

"So? When is it?" Kurenai asked.

"One week from now." The Third Hokage answered.

"That's sudden." Kakashi stated.

The Hokage let out a puff of smoke from his pipe. "I will make the official announcement... Seven days from now, the first of July, we will begin the Chuunin exams."


	9. Chapter 9:Where Are They Now?

**A/N: I started this epilogue as soon as I finished the last chapter, so hopefully you guys are happy with it. Of course, that means that I'm writing this before any of you even responded to the last chapter, so thank you in advance for any reviews, for both the last chapter and this epilogue!  
About the chapter title (Where Are They Now?), yes, I know that this isn't really "now", but the series isn't even over yet and I figured I might as well choose the beginning of Shippuden for this epilogue.  
Sorry for also making this short.  
Disclaimer: You know what I'm going to say/write, right (haha, homophones)? Good.  
**

**Two Sides of the Same Kunai  
Epilogue**

"Today's the day, don't you think, Naruto?" Jiraiya shook Naruto's shoulder to wake him up, but Naruto didn't even stir. He shook it more vigourously, until he ended up rolling Naruto over onto the cold floor. "Wake up!"

Naruto stuffed his head under his pillow. "I was awake the entire time, Pervy Sage! You don't have to do that!"

"Don't call me that!"

"But it's true!" Naruto protested.

"No it's not-" Jiraiya gave up. "Nevermind. Forget it. What I mean to say is, it's about time we headed back to Konoha."

Naruto became silent and thought for a bit. "Do you think I'm strong enough, Pervy Sage?"

"Of course! You've been training with the one and only Pervy Sage!" Jiraiya thought about what he just said and cursed. "Damn it, I mean Jiraiya, the Legendary Toad Sage!"

Incredibly, Naruto ignored Jiraiya and didn't laugh (for the moment, atleast. He would laugh about that later). "Do you think I'm strong enough to bring him back?"

"I can't teach you anything anymore, Naruto." Jiraiya replied after a little bit of thought. "You would get stronger if you went back to Konoha." Notice how he avoided the question.

Naruto perked up at the mention of getting stronger. "Say what? Get stronger? Then let's go right now!" He immediately started packing all their supplies.

During their journey to Konoha, Naruto wouldn't shut up. He kept up a stream of chitchat. Let me show you a small piece of the one-sided conversation (Jiraiya was listening to Naruto with a vacant expression on his face):

"Hey, Pervy Sage, how pretty do you think Sakura is now? I'm going to go to Ichiraku with Iruka! Then I'll eat BBQ pork with Choji and Shikamaru, maybe have one of Hinata's delicious rolls! I'm going to hunt down Konohamaru and give him a noogie! I'm going to spar with Bushy Brow, I haven't fought with him in a while! Then I'll do nothing but train for a week and then I'll try to find Sasu-" Naruto stopped his endless chatter and sulked. Which I guess was a good thing, because Jiraiya was pretty close to putting duct tape (the King/Chuck Norris of tape) over Naruto's mouth.

Naruto was silent for the rest of the journey. Almost 3 years since they had left Konoha. 3 years. Why was that so important? Naruto racked his brain to find the answer. Something about the Akatsuki... and Sasuke. What was it? Orochimaru had something to do with that too...

Naruto was still in this state when they saw the distinctive main gate to Konoha, with the leaf symbol at the top. Normally, Naruto would've burst into there and screamed that he was back home. Today, though, Naruto simply walked calmly through the gate, ignoring Kotetsu and Izumo. He just wanted to get to high up and take a good look at the village. Hopefully, that would finally convince him that he was finally back home, after all this time.

* * *

Gaara was tired. Well, he was always tired due to his insomnia, but today he was more tired than usual. Maybe it was all the paperwork that always streamed into his office. Being a Kage was hard work. Gather up all the Kages, ask them the one thing they dislike the most about being a Kage, and they'll probably answer "paperwork". Forever flipping through files and folders, stamping papers. But it definitely had it's good sides.

Respect was a good example. Every one in the village looked up to Gaara. Even that brown-haired girl who had called Gaara a "monster" such a long time ago. Actually, that particular girl was the president of his fanclub. You heard that right, the females in Suna had a Gaara fanclub. Most of the members were the same girls who shunned him when he was a child. _Life is so weird. _Gaara thought.

"Gaara." His siblings appeared in the doorway.

"Yes. What is it?" Gaara answered formally.

"You don't have to talk like that to us, you know? We're family!" Kankuro gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"Fine, what the heck do you guys want?" Gaara smiled. They smiled back. Gaara felt so different now. He always had a dark prescence before. Now it was so light.

"We wanted to congratulate you."

Gaara looked puzzled. "On what?"

"Don't you know? You've been Kazekage for a full half-a-year! Surprise!" Temari whipped out a cake, decorated with blue and green. They were a nice splash of colour in the plain desert. _Haha, desert, dessert._ Gaara laughed internally. He still loved his words, though he'd always been more careful to hide it since his father caught him.

_Would father be proud of me? _Gaara wondered. _Would he approve of my being Kazekage? Would he approve of me protecting this village?_

"Of course! He was Kazekage too, you know!" Temari said, snapping Gaara out of his thoughts.

"Did I say that aloud?" Gaara asked. _How strange. You would think I would know whether I spoke or not._

Kankuro raised an eyebrow at Gaara. "Do you really have to ask?"

Gaara laughed, and the others joined in. He didn't doubt what Temari said. Why wouldn't his father be proud of him being Kazekage? But there was also one more thing he was sure of. It made Gaara laugh more, though he wasn't sure why.

_A demon that loves himself, and cares only for himself. Exactly the opposite of what a Kazekage is, and what I am now._

_Mother would be so ashamed of me._


End file.
